


Happily Ever After

by Cat_Moon



Series: Half Breed [12]
Category: Moonlight (TV)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-09-01
Updated: 2013-09-01
Packaged: 2017-12-25 07:28:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 12,849
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/950346
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cat_Moon/pseuds/Cat_Moon
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Wedding bells ring.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Love Does Last Forever

**Author's Note:**

> This story is #12 in the "Half Breed" series. If you don't read them in order, you may not understand what's going on.

  
_"Frail flowers that arrive with the cuckoo,_   
_Pale lilac, hyacinth purple of hue,_   
_ & the little pink geranium,_   
_All smil'd & nodded to see me come;_   
_All gave me welcome; 'No noise,' they said,_   
_'For we will show you the bridal bed.'"_   


  
Roden Berkeley Wriothesley Noel  
1834-1894

 

 

_Sometimes life doesn’t turn out the way you expect it to. You think you know what’s what, who you are, where you’re going… and the Universe pulls the rug out from under you and shows you you don’t know shit. For some of us, this happens on a daily basis… Sooner or later, even that becomes routine. Boring, even. When that happens, should you be relieved or more worried?_

_Someone once said, the more things change the more they stay the same. Whoever said that had no clue how right they had it!_

 

XXX

 

Beth Turner-soon-to-be-St. John busied herself around her father’s new condo, adding some things she’d bought and a few that she’d taken from her own apartment, family mementoes and other treasures. She didn’t need them anymore, and it was comforting to know they were staying in the family. That was another effortless change that she’d had no intentions of making back before she’d become engaged; she fully expected to be keeping her own apartment, to give both herself and Mick space of their own. Space? Between them? She should have known better. Since their first night together, she’d hardly seen her own place except to stop by and grab things she needed. Now, it was just a matter of clearing stuff out so she could drop the lease. This was the best of both worlds, since Aldo had enlisted his daughter’s help with the decorating of his new home; she was unashamedly using the opportunity to find a way of keeping the things that otherwise she had no room for. Mick’s place was just so artfully decorated; she couldn’t see anything much needed to be added to perfection. Even though he’d made it clear she could bring in anything she wanted – or even everything, if she wanted.

Good thing her father’s condo was huge.

Aldo had also requested Mick’s opinion on his new security system, having been impressed with the one the PI had. It never hurt for a vampire to have good security, just in case. The pleasant afternoon the three of them had planned was delayed somewhat however, when Aldo had gotten a call to an emergency meeting with a client. Back in L.A. for good, he’d set up his law practice again and although Josef would be his main client, he also enjoyed helping people who needed legal counsel. He had a feeling Mick might be referring clients to him – and vice versa.

“How do you think this looks over here?” Beth asked Mick of the multi-colored vase she’d placed on a table in the foyer. It had been her mother's, and she was looking forward to Aldo’s reaction when he saw it.

Mick regarded it critically, than shook his head. She arched an eyebrow at him. He grinned apologetically. “Too close to the door traffic, easy to get knocked down and broken. I’d try the shelf by the window, the incoming light will shine on it, really highlight the colors.

“Highlighting the colors, huh?” She knew her dad had given her the job of helping decorate not due to her expertise in interior design, but rather for that touch of family and familiarity she would bring. Still.

Mick nodded, wide eyed. “It’ll really make ‘em pop!” he exclaimed.

“I’ll pop you,” she warned. “Didn’t anyone ever tell you straight men aren’t supposed to be so stylish or neat?”

“That’s okay, I think those days are numbered,” he told her, studying a garishly surreal painting of some kind of purple flower that she’d hung in a prominent place on the wall in the living room.

“Which, the style or the straightness?” she inquired archly.

“Well, you know, in some circles, BFF doesn’t stand for ‘best friends forever.’”

“I’m telling Josef on you!” she threatened.

“Go ahead, we live to annoy him. Between the barfing when he comes in here and sees this place, and the aspersion on his manhood, it’ll be good times.”

“I’ll have you know,” she told him, taking the picture from his hands and putting it back on the wall. “That happens to be the Bloody Cranesbill. It’s the official flower of the county in England where dad is from.”

He studied it some more. “But they’re not red,” he noted.

“The leaves are, in the fall. That’s where the name comes from.”

“That’s my reporter, always doing her research,” he told her fondly, with a kiss on the cheek.

“That’s what makes me so good,” she responded, slipping her arms around his waist.

Mick gave an embarrassed cough, just for effect. “Not all you’re good at.”

“Oh!” she brightened. “Speaking of our honeymoon…”

“You’ve thought about where you’d like to go?” he asked with just a little trepidation. He really didn’t think she’d pick someplace like a sun-drenched Bahamas beach, but he didn’t want to limit her either. He wanted to go somewhere that would make her happy. It occurred to him that he was very lucky she wasn’t like Coraline – and also maybe that’s how he’d gotten in trouble in the first place. Being a pushover for the woman he loved. Only in this case, his trust wasn’t misplaced.

She was nodding. “Yes, in fact I know the perfect place.”

“You’re building up the suspense, right?” he asked when she didn’t answer immediately.

She grinned like the canary cat. “Someplace we’ll both enjoy.” She paused again until he rolled his eyes at her. “Alaska.”

He stared at her, stunned into silence for a moment. “You want to go to Alaska. For your honeymoon. In the middle of winter.”

After each sentence, she had nodded. “Think of it, Mick -- only two hours of sunlight a day. Temps well below zero. We can get a room with a balcony you can sleep on, no freezer needed. And a bubbling hot tub in the suite for me. The romantic northern lights above us…”

Overwhelmed by her suggestion, he pulled her closer and kissed her fiercely. “I love you,” he said when the kiss ended. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“Only the best for me, so I guess you’re the best,” she informed him, giving him a kiss of her own.

“You really want to go to Alaska? Or is it just because it’s a vamp-friendly destination?”

“Both,” she explained, clearly pleased with herself for having thought of it. “The other night when I was reminiscing with my dad, I remembered how I always used to dream about visiting Alaska and seeing the aurora borealis. I’ve wanted to go ever since I was a little girl; it would be a dream coming true for me. In more ways than one,” she murmured, caressing his face. “I hear it’s so beautiful.”

“So cold.”

“It’s a dry cold,” she responded.

“You’re sure?” he had to ask again, just to be fair.

The arms that were around his waist moved lower and her hands slipped inside his back pockets intimately. “Absolutely. And the way I see it, a honeymoon isn’t an excuse to sightsee all day and party at clubs all night. It’s a trip to get away from those annoying distractions that we have to get out of bed for. You know, work, family, friends.”

“Have I ever told you, Mrs. St. John, that I like the way you think?”

“So it’s decided?”

“Alaska it is. I’ve heard there’s a fairly big vamp population up there, although that they’re a bit…eccentric.”

“Oh joy, eccentric vampires, should be interesting.”

He suspected there was more seriousness in her comment than sarcasm, but he was afraid to find out. “I can see if Josef has any contacts up there, you know, I’ll need a supplier.”

“There’s also dog sledding, which sounds like fun to try, and cross country skiing. It’s going to be fun.”

“You know everyone’s going to think we’re insane.”

“Well, not _everyone_ ,” she pointed out.

 

XXX

 

Mick was in the kitchen getting a ‘drink’ when the door buzzer sounded. Wondering if Aldo had already forgotten his access code, he put it back and headed into the other room. Before he made it all the way, he heard the door opening, and then a loud thud as if something, or someone, had fallen.

Mick raced into the living room, his sock clad feet skidding to a halt on the hardwood floor as he took in the scene before him.

The first thing he saw was Beth, collapsed in a dead faint on the floor by the door. The second thing he registered was the woman staring down at her.

“Oh dear,” the woman said, her hand going up to her face in distress. “I guess I should have called first.”

“I know you,” Mick told her, staring in shock at the woman he hadn’t seen face to face in 22 years. Not since she’d hired him to find her missing daughter. Only that time, she hadn’t been a vampire.

“I know you,” she told him, staring in shock at the man she hadn’t seen since she’d hired him to find her kidnapped daughter 22 years ago. Only that time, she hadn’t known he was a vampire.

Beth’s groan galvanized them both into action. Mick knelt on the floor by her, lifting her head up and patting her face gently to try and bring her around. “Beth, sweetheart, come on, wakey, wakey,” he called gently, just knowing without looking that Margaret Turner had not missed the endearment and was still staring at him.

Beth abruptly came to, scrambling to her feet. “Mommy?!” she shrieked loud enough to bruise Mick’s sensitive eardrums, before launching herself into her mother’s arms.

“Bethy…” Margaret responded, already near tears. “I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to shock you like that. I thought… I didn’t know you’d be here.”

Mick smirked. Obviously the unexpected surprise was intended for Aldo’s benefit.

The mother and daughter reunion continued for a few moments, both of them now in tears. Finally Beth pulled away slightly. “I… you’re…supposed to be… are you…?” she glanced at Mick questioningly.

He read the unspoken question easily, and nodded the answer Beth was smart enough to have already known. “She’s a vampire too,” he said aloud, to let Margaret know that Beth was aware of what they were. To his credit, Mick realized he’d finally gotten used to the surprises and was handling this new development a lot better than he had the previous ones. He wasn’t even feeling very shocked.

“Why don’t we sit down,” he suggested, leading them over to Aldo’s Italian leather sofa. “I guess we all have a lot of questions for each other.”

“What happened?!” Beth asked her the minute they were seated. “I thought you were dead,” she said with just a touch of accusation, but it was clear she was already being much more forgiving than she had been of her father. Mick wasn’t sure why.

Margaret put her arm comfortingly around Beth, and they held each other. “Well, it’s a long story sweetheart, but while I was at the hospice I received an…anonymous tip that your father didn’t die in the crash. That he’d faked his death and left the country to protect us.”

“And you trusted this anonymous tip?” Mick asked, earning an elbow in the side from his fiancée at the detective questioning. He ignored it; this situation was already putting all his PI senses on alert. To say nothing of his vampire senses, which were trying to tell him things he couldn’t sort out.

“Yes, I believed it. Maybe I was desperate, maybe I just never felt like he was really dead. I never could accept it, you know that Beth. I didn’t have anything to lose, and it was certainly worth a try. So I…found someone to turn me. It took awhile till I was ready to go searching for him, but eventually I was experienced enough to go out on my own. I had some leads on where he might be, I knew he was somewhere in Europe. I went to find him. Ironically, when I’d finally caught up with him in that village in Switzerland, I’d missed him by only a few weeks. He was already on his way back to the states. So, here I am. Finally.”

Beth hugged her, starting to cry again. “I’m so glad you’re here.”

“Let me take a good look at my Bethy,” Margaret said, taking her daughter’s hands in her own, and unable to miss the diamond engagement ring on her finger. She looked up to Beth’s face. “You’re getting married?!”

Beth nodded, a beaming smile lighting her face. Right on cue, Margaret’s gaze started to slide over to Mick – who immediately jumped up to create a distraction. “I’ll just go get us all some refreshments, I’m sure Beth could use a glass of water after the shock she’s had. How do you work that water filter thingy again?” he asked Beth, grabbing her arm and pulling her away from the couch towards the kitchen.

“What are you—“

He interrupted her, hissing low into her ear. “I know we said full disclosure, but don’t tell her about the _stalking_ , okay??”

Beth shook her head, and grabbed his face for a kiss. “I love you, you silly boy.” Then she pushed him into the kitchen and returned to the couch. He was left trying to figure out if that was a yes, or a no…. The father-in-law hadn’t scared him hardly at all, compared to the effect the mother-in-law was already having on him. Preparing the drinks, he kept his ears tuned to the other room.

“So, Bethy, who is the ring from?” Margaret asked sounding like it was pretty obvious already but wanting to make sure she hadn’t misunderstood.

Beth flushed with pleasure. “Mick,” she whispered almost reverently.

“And how did this all happen?” Clearly Margaret wasn’t sure whether to be disturbed by the turn of events, or not. The Mother Jury was still out in deliberation.

“We sure do have a lot to catch up with here,” Mick interrupted, returning with the drinks; blood for them and water for Beth. “I hope O negative is to your liking, its Aldo’s favorite. He just pulled up out front, by the way.”

The second distraction worked, and Margaret looked at the door apprehensively. “I guess that was mean of me, wanting to make an entrance like that. I guess I just wanted a bit of revenge. Show him how I felt when I found out he wasn’t dead. And I don’t even know if he… if he found someone else…” her trailed off, courage now deserting her.

Beth smiled and hugged her mother again. “You are the only woman he ever loved. And now you’ll be together forever!” She jumped up from the couch. “But let me at least… brace him some for the shock.”

Beth slipped out the door, leaving Mick and Margaret to regard each other silently. Mick squirmed. Since he couldn’t think of anything perfect to say, he was keeping his mouth shut no matter how uncomfortable, rather than risk putting his foot in it.

But soon the two voices of Beth and Aldo held their attention, both being vampires they had no trouble hearing clearly…

“Hi daddy, I’m so glad you’re back.”

“Then why are you hanging onto me out here instead of going inside, and why do you have such a strange expression on your face?”

“We have an…unexpected visitor today. I didn’t want it to be so much of a shock, so I thought you might need a moment to brace yourself.”

“Brace myself?” there was a pause. “Another vampire, one I don’t recognize, but something familiar….” He had obviously scented her. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s great. C’mon in.”

Beth led her father inside, and the next moment the two Turners were looking at each other for the first time in several decades.

“Margaret?” Aldo breathed, looking as if he would pass out. Or as if he were looking at a mirage he was afraid would disappear any second.

“Al…” she answered with a tremulous smile.

“Margo… is it really you?” he continued, as both of them advanced slowly toward each other. The other two occupants of the room may as well have vanished, as their eyes were only for each other.

“I heard you were still alive. I knew I couldn’t die, that I had to try to search for you.”

Finally they were within reach. Aldo took his wife’s face in his hands reverently, and brought her lips to his. It was a kiss that tried to make up for twenty three years of none. She melted into him automatically, as if none of that time had passed, and they wrapped their arms around each other.

When it became obvious to Mick that an atomic bomb could have gone off and they wouldn’t notice, he took Beth’s arm and began leading her toward the door.

She resisted. “Mick, what are you doing?” she asked without looking at him, her glowing eyes soaking up the sight of her parents, both back from the dead, finally together again.

“They need some time alone.”

“But I want to watch,” she said, thrilled. “It’s so romantic!” Tears of happiness glittered once again in her eyes.

“Not in about a few more minutes you won’t want to!” he assured her. “Let’s go home. We can come back later.”

He got her out the door just in time, judging by what his vampire ears heard from the other side of the door.

 

“Much later.”

 

End of chapter one...


	2. Conversations

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Again, title says it all.

 

Beth came awake slowly, stretching her body out on the bed. It was still dark, and the clock showed she hadn’t been asleep for long. Mick wasn’t with her, and while that was normal, he usually spent more time in bed than that, even falling asleep holding her. Instinct had her rising from the bed and pulling on her favorite night wear – one of Mick’s shirts. Coming down the stairs, she could see the light from his office. She playfully grabbed her fedora from Asta’s head and walked into the office.

She blinked. And blinked again, thinking perhaps she was still asleep, the scene before her so out of character. At least for Mick St. John, the 2008 version. She looked around for the flying pigs.

Mick sat at the desk, with Aerosmith’s “No More, No More” blasting from the headphones on his ears. She couldn’t be sure, but he might have just finished a riff on air guitar before she’d entered. He hadn’t even sensed her come in! A wicked smile spread across her face as she considered ways to surprise her vampire.

“Don’t even think about it,” Mick said, finally looking up at her and putting to rest her fantasy that she could sneak up on him.

“You’re no fun.”

“That’s not what you said a few hours ago,” he reminded her, turning down the music and removing the headphones.

While Mick had been a musician when he was alive, she’d never seen him take much interest in it since she’d known him, beyond listening to some jazz now and then. Now that she thought about it, it was odd – unless you considered it was a painful subject for him to be reminded of what he used to be. This could be a good sign, another sign that he was healing. If not for the fact that he was clearly brooding. While he could make that seem like the sexiest thing on earth, she could sense he was troubled.

She went to the desk and slid on top of it, facing him. “Okay,” she began directly, “what’s wrong with you, besides being afraid of my mother.”

“I’m not—" he protested but stopped at her look. “I’m just curious… who would ‘tip’ her off that Aldo was alive, and then give her clues as to where he could be?”

“What are you getting at?”

“C’mon Beth, she had no ties to the vamp community after he left. Who could have told her he was alive? There’s only one person who even knew he didn’t die in that crash…”

“Oh no. You don’t think Josef – you’re more paranoid than he is, do you know that?”

“It still comes back to who else knew? Who would be able to arrange something like this? Turn her, fake her death perfectly,"

“And send her off by herself in Europe to search instead of just telling her where dad was?”

“Dad said Josef contacted him. Maybe Josef didn’t know where he was, just how to get in touch with him in the case of emergency. Trust me; a newly turned vampire doesn’t go wandering around Europe by themselves without some pretty good connections.”

“And so you’re all pissed off at Josef again?”

Mick turned his head away, running a hand through hair. “Every time I turn around lately I find something he lied about, kept secret. I hate it. I’m beginning to wonder if I can really trust him.”

“Oh, Mick,” she touched his arm. “This had nothing to do with you. It was about my parents. His old friend.”

“Yeah, before Coraline came back. He had plenty of opportunities after that to say, hey by the way, Margaret Turner isn’t really dead, she’s a vampire now and is off looking for Aldo.”

“Maybe it wasn’t his secret to tell, he’d been sworn not to tell anyone.”

“Even though it was your mother, you’re defending him.”

“Josef has been a good friend to both of us. He was there for me, he took care of things when I was in trouble. I don’t believe he’d ever do anything to hurt either of us. If we needed to know something, he’d tell us.”

“Like that you are a half breed?”

“Yes. He contacted my father, and let him tell us. The man who had the right to give up that secret.”

“I don’t know… I just…”

“You need to talk to him. Have a real heart to heart and clear the air.”

Mick snorted. “With Josef? He thinks losing at poker is too emotional.”

Beth shook her head. “I’m a woman, I know these things. Trust me. I’ll talk to him, let him know you need to hear some things from him.”

“Oh crap…” he moaned. “I don’t know who to feel sorry for.”

“Trust me – I can handle Josef Konstantin.” Somehow with all the weird stuff that had been going on these past months, Mick was tempted to believe her.

The foot that reached out was a good distraction from his disturbing thoughts, as were the toes wiggling against his crotch in blatant invitation.

“So,” Mick began, turning his attention away from the troubling issues and onto the vision of the woman of his dreams, who currently sat on his desk in nothing but his shirt and a hat. “Ever have office sex?” Her eyes darkened with passion at his words. He slid the chair closer, putting his hands on her thighs. He reveled in his acute senses, the ability to so clearly catalog the effect he had on her, the elevated breathing, and heat.

Mick slid his hands up and down her inner thighs in a caress, then bent to place kisses and licks on the smooth skin. He paused to look up at her. “Interesting place for a hickey, don’t you think?” Grinning as he heard her heart skip a beat. Rather than follow up his threat, he switched to a new goal, his mouth making a leisurely journey up her leg, teeth placing little nips along the way. She fell back on the desk at the first touch of his tongue. Even since he’d found out that Josh was one of those men for whom the very idea of this act was gross, he’d taken even more pleasure in pleasuring her. One of the advantages of being a vamp that he was fast learning to really appreciate, they didn’t ‘gross out’ easily.

He’d couldn’t quite decide whether to lower her onto him in the chair, or take her where she was. She did look good spread across his desk like that.

“Decisions, decision,” he muttered.

“You’re killing me here,” she responded, the sentence punctuated with a moan.

His grin as he stood up melted her insides into liquid heat. He pulled his bottoms off and kicked them away. Then, inspiration hit. “Who says you can’t have the best of both?” he asked, pulling her off the desk and down on top of him in the chair, while Aerosmith sang “Back in the Saddle.”

When he took her on the desk, “Walkin’ the dog” was playing.

 

XXX

 

Aldo couldn’t resist running his hands down his wife’s body for the thousandth time that night, reveling in the solid form under his questing fingers. When he’d finally returned to L.A. and found out she had died, the pain (and guilt) was so bad he wondered if he’d be able to go on. Only his daughter had kept him from taking a one way trip into the desert at noon. He knew he didn’t deserve to have his family back, but he was grateful and determined to do right by them this time, no matter what.

He reached for her again, wanting her again. She had that look on her face, the one she used to get when she was thinking about something – never a good sign. She pushed him away, not un-gently.

“Who’s the bed for??”

“What?” he asked, confused.

“Vampires don’t sleep in beds. Who did you buy the bed for?”

Uh oh. Recognizing he was in some trouble, he desperately cast about for the right words. Even in vampire relationships, some things just never changed. The man was in trouble with his wife, he was going to have a tough time getting out of it, and probably put his foot in his mouth when he did speak.

“I uh…” the answer suddenly came to him. “For show, of course. How would it look for some human to notice I didn’t have a bed? You know we don’t do anything to arouse suspicion.” Wrong word to use, arouse, he noted, as parts of him were still uninterested in the conversation and more interested in continuing their reeducation of his wife’s body.

“Uh huh,” she said, clearly not totally convinced but seemingly willing to let it drop – for now.

“Which reminds me, I need to call the supplier first thing tomorrow and trade the single freezer in for a double.”

“I’ll remind you,” she assured him, slightly more mollified. “Okay, so I’ve filled you in on my life since you left and up till now. How about you explain a few things to me about what’s going on here. With Beth. And Mick St. John."

“Does it bother you?” he asked her frankly.

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “He is the one who saved her when she was a four year old child. Couldn’t that be considered a little… odd?”

“Yes it could. If we weren’t vampires. It’s different for us; you’ll come to understand that as you get more experience. And this is Mick and Beth we’re talking about. When I saw them together… they reminded me so much of us.” He leaned over and kissed her; she stroked his bare chest as if she couldn’t help herself. “They belong together. Just like we do.”

“And she knows he was the one?”

“I believe that’s part of the connection they share,” he said with a grin that earned him a smack in the arm.

“You know she used to have a ‘crush’ on her guardian angel when she was a teenager? Imagined he looked like Johnny Depp and was going to ring the doorbell one day and sweep her off her feet.”

“And so he did,” Aldo noted.

“Are you talking this seriously?” she demanded.

“It’s very serious,” he told her. “I looked into Mick St. John’s eyes, and saw the way he looked at my daughter, and I knew – he was the one man in the universe I’d trust her with.”

“Well, when did they fall in love? Did she know who he was from the start? How did they meet again?”

“You’re getting much too wrapped up with details,” Aldo told her. “Just remember this: They love each other like we do. They’re soul mates. Nothing on this earth or beyond is going to tear them apart. That’s real, and strong, and forever.”

“Like us,” she agreed in a whisper, drawing her beloved closer until he covered her body again.

 

XXX

 

“Nora, Nora, Nora. Why are you harassing me?” Josef complained over the phone when Beth called him the next evening. “I don’t have to bail you out of jail or anything, do I?”

“Not today. I’m calling to tell you that Mick’s really upset with you.”

“What’d I do now?” he asked wryly.

“He thinks you had something to do with a certain woman named Margaret Turner who just happens to be a vampire, and happens to have gotten a ‘tip’ that her dead husband wasn’t dead, just a vampire..”

“What about you?” he asked, sounding remarkably as if he cared whether she would be upset with him or not.

“Oh, I only get upset when people I care about lie to me.”

“Ouch – you wound me!” She could picture him clutching his chest dramatically.

“I’m serious Josef. Mick has decided he doesn’t want any more lies or secrets. He already made me promise. You’ve been friends too long; I don’t want to see this damage it beyond repair. You need to talk to him. If you had nothing to do with it, make him believe you. If you did…

She heard a sigh over the phone. “Crap,” he said, with feeling. “Yeah, okay, I get it. Talk to Mick.”

“Thank you. Goodbye, Joey.” She hung up, before his outraged sputtering at the nickname could form into words.

Mick had said he lives to annoy Josef… but really, nobody could hold a candle to Beth in that department.

 

end of chapter 2


	3. Confessions

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Josef comes clean about a few things, including someone named Sarah...

Josef:

_A person who’s lived several hundred years has a lot of secrets._

_You get really good at guarding them, until its second nature. The mere suggestion that you should reveal any of them is met with an instinctive drive to protect. Your very existence is a secret, you become it. To have someone see you, know you, is as terrifying as fleeing in the dark with a torch bearing mob hot on your heels._

_Torch bearing mob – human blond reporter. Who knew they’d have something in common?_

 

XXX

 

Of the people Josef had assembled in Mick’s apartment, only Aldo was old enough to know what being a vampire was really like, back in the old days. In Europe, where it all began. These young, American vamps just didn’t have a clue. It was kind of refreshing, and it’s what had sent Josef to the U.S and kept him here all these years. He had no desire to return to his homeland, or any of Europe for anything more than a visit, if he could help it. All that pomp and ceremony, the bloodlines and old world attitudes just weren’t his style. American vampires were a product of their country –- so arrogant and egocentric, believing they were the center of the universe and happily oblivious to the traditions that European vampires deemed important enough to live and die for. Give them a pint of AB from the morgue, carefully concealed in a travel mug from Starbucks, and an IPOD with “My Immortal” on it and undead life was good.

Josef Konstantin loved America.

Right now though, he was considering re-thinking his position, as the others sat around waiting for him to tell them why he’d called them all there. Well, some of them already knew… It had been an unpleasant week.

“Okay,” he said, throwing a glare in Beth’s direction just on principle. She lobbed it back, but spoiled it with the impish grin that followed. He pretended to ignore. “Let’s get this show on the road. Why are we all here? We can thank Mick for that.” Dutifully, all eyes turned to the dark haired vampire who sat next to his human fiancée, eyebrow raised in question.

Josef paused, trying to make it look like he was doing it for dramatic effect, a carefully orchestrated performance, when in reality he had no idea how to do this. It wasn’t a play in his repertoire. Hell, it wasn’t even a play, it was real. Josef didn’t _do_ real very often, or very well.

“Seems our Mick has fallen in love again, this time with a nasty little bitch called truth. To support his new passion, I’ve decided to share one of my secrets with you. I hope you appreciate this, Mick.”

Josef went over to the computer he’d set up on the table, and keyed something in. When he stepped away from the screen, they could see it was obviously a shot from a webcam, trained on a bedroom. In the bed there was a beautiful red headed woman. She looked asleep, but for the IV in her arm.

After they’d had a moment to process the sight, Josef spoke, in a voice very much unlike his usual sardonic bite. His voice was soft, with a touch of pain. “Her name is Sarah. I met her on the subway in New York in the 50’s. She asked me for a light, and, well, I hate to use an overused cliché, but it was love at first sight. On both sides.” He paused to let that sink in. “We were together for a year. I never intended to reveal the truth about me to her – but it turns out she figured it out for herself. Instead of being repulsed, terrified, as I expected, she surprised me by not only accepting – but wanting me to turn her. So we could be together… forever.”

He risked a glance a Mick, who sat in stunned silence, his mouth slightly open, as if pigs with wings had just come flying formation into the room.

“I almost started believing that’s why I’d lived all these years. So I could meet her,” he snorted in derision at the foolish notion he’d entertained.

“What happened to her?” Beth breathed quietly.

“I tried to turn her. Something went wrong, and she never woke up. She’s been like this ever since.”

Beth raised a hand, as if she wanted to comfort him with a touch, but remained on the couch.

Josef crossed to the computer and cut the connection quickly. That part was over. “No one on earth knows about Sarah – except the people in this room,” he said significantly. He recovered his unemotional persona and continued. “Mick thinks I lied to him. He thinks I knew all about Aldo, and Beth, and Margo too, and kept it from him. He’d be right, of course. Before I continue, I want you to know that I got Margaret’s permission to tell this next part of the story. Sometimes, people want their secrets kept, and it’s then that they appreciate a friend who will lie for them.”

Mick winced at the implied dig, accepting it as his due. Margaret nodded for Josef to continue.

“As we all know, I did know that Aldo was still with us, and at his request, I kept this information to myself for over 20 years. Then, a short time ago I heard about Margaret being in the hospice, dying. By the way, if you ever wonder if that insurance check you received every month was fraud, rest assured there never was an insurance pay off. Aldo arranged with me to make sure that both of you were taken care of, financially,” he told the Turner women, whose eyes widened at the news of their silent benefactor.

“I told you about Sarah so you would understand why I did what I did. I don’t know… call me sentimental. I went to see Margaret. Maybe I wanted to give someone else a chance, to try to make up for what happened to Sarah in some way… I told her everything. About Aldo, and I gave her a choice.” He looked at Margaret again. “She knew the risks, knew that I’d never tried to turn anyone else since then and it might not work.”

“Like I said,” she interjected, “I had nothing to lose. I was dying anyway. I had everything to gain."

Mick and Beth both gasped in surprise but it was Mick who spoke up. “You’re Margaret’s sire?!” he said, stunned.

“I thought you’d figured that out already,” Josef responded. “You’re getting rusty, my friend. I’ve heard too much mortal sex kills the brain cells,” he said with a lavacious wink at Beth.

“Josef turned me, and kept me with him until I was able to be independent,” Margaret took up the story. “Then I started searching for Aldo.”

“I only had an untraceable telephone number. Some leads that I’d never followed up on before."

“Why didn’t you call him?” Mick asked.

“Hey, your wife, who was dying of cancer, is now a vampire and she’s looking for you… not news you break over the phone. That number was only ever to be used for one reason – in the event Beth was in any trouble because of what she was.”

“I asked him not to call Aldo,” Margaret added. “I needed time to sort out my feelings… it’s just something I needed to do on my own. To find him, see him in person.”

“Then I lost touch with her for awhile,” Josef admitted. “Here she was running all over Europe and I had no idea where she was. Then this stuff with Coraline started. I called Aldo, having no idea if she was with him, or not. I didn’t even know whether he was coming back alone or if she’d be with him until I saw him.”

“You didn’t mention that little fact to me either,” Aldo told him in a stern voice, but clearly not considering it a friendship straining event.

“I was freaking out by then!” Josef admitted in a rare moment of total honesty. “I’d lost my fledgling somewhere in Europe, Mick was self destructing over Beth and Coraline, who was back with a plan… Discretion is the better part of valor, you know. I sat tight, had people looking for Margaret, and was waiting to see how it played out before I said anything.”

“How did you lose touch with Josef?” Mick asked Margo.

“I’ll tell you that story…sometime. It’s a long story. The important thing is that I’m back now, and we’re all together again.”

“Just another happy ending for the vampire nation,” Josef quipped. It hadn’t been quite like getting wisdom fangs pulled, but he was glad it was over.

Mick stood, going over to Josef. He held out his hand. “I’m sorry,” he told him sincerely. “And thank you for doing this for me, for telling us about everything… about Sarah.”

“You’re not gonna, like, hug me or anything, are you?” he asked suspiciously, eyeing the hand before him.

“Don’t worry, your virtue is safe,” Mick smirked.

Josef put out his own hand for the clasp – and was immediately pulled into a bear hug by his friend.

“You lied to me!” Josef exclaimed as he pulled away – a few moments later, smoothing down his ruffled feathers.

The somber moment was broken as the others laughed at the irony of the statement.

 

XXX

 

Later, after a pleasant afternoon of company was coming to a close, Mick and Josef sat enjoying a last drink, while the Turners continued with all the catching up they had to do.

“You do know it’s inevitable, don’t you?” Josef said, gesturing toward Beth with his glass. “Her father is a vampire, her mother is a vampire, her husband-to be is one, she’s half vampire. She’s got plenty of choices if she wants to be turned. It’s her decision to make, and yours to decide if you’re gonna be the one to do it.”

Mick threw back his head and laughed – earned a nonplussed look from his confused friend. It was the last reaction Josef would have expected.

“You’ve seen the wedding ring,” Mick said by way of answer.

“Yeah, kinda cheap if you ask me, just three diamonds—“

“Do you know what the symbolism of three diamonds is?” he asked.

“Enlighten me.”

“Past. Our past together when I saved her as a child. Present. Us now, our marriage – and future.” The way he gave emphasis on the word future left no doubt what he meant. "Eternity."

It was Josef’s turn to gape at his friend, the reluctant vampire who’d sworn he’d never turn his worst enemy but now seemed to be joyful about turning Beth. “When did this happen?!” he demanded.

Mick looked away for just a second. “Like you said,” he answered after a minute, “it was inevitable.”

 

END OF CHAPTER 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks to Shane Co. jewelers for the diamond lore.


	4. Being Real

Beth watched the man on the roof for a few moments. Of course he knew she was there, but his stance didn’t change, he continued looking out over the city as if unaffected by her presence.

“I had a feeling I’d find you here,” she said quietly, stepping forward to stand next to him.

“Mick says you hear voices, are you psychic too?” Josef asked her, not turning from the view that seemed to hold some fascination for vampires. She wondered what they could see that the rest of the world couldn’t. What secrets did the night give up only to them?

“Maybe I know my vampires,” she said back, sliding an arm through his.

“ _Your_ vampires?” he quirked a brow at her, after glancing down pointedly at her arm.

“That was very nice, what you did for Mick tonight.”

“Don’t make a big deal out of it,” he responded in a rough voice.

“Why not?” she asked curiously. “It was a big deal.”

Josef tried to shrug; it was halfhearted at best. Not good to speak of secrets around her, it was her job to unearth them and she was good at it.

“You still miss her very much.”

Josef sighed. “Leading the suspect, not nice Nora.” It was a bit too much suddenly, having Mick’s human standing there talking to him about his. His. What a laugh. He should have left her alone. Yet things had worked out for Mick and Beth, hadn’t they? He prayed it would in the end, but couldn’t quite figure out why it hadn’t for him and Sarah. Why?

“Do you know what struck me?” she continued, unimpressed by his trying to put her off. “You said that you’d wondered if that’s why you lived all this time, so you could meet her.”

He tried to shrug out of the arm but she just held tighter. “Obviously I was wrong about that.” Josef had a healthy self-love, unlike Mick, but in this rare moment he hated himself for the weakness staining his voice.

“It occurs to me that if not for you meeting Sarah, and what happened, you might never have turned my mother. We might not all be here like this now. Maybe I owe you my family. I’m so sorry about what happened to her, but I’m so grateful that something good could come out of the pain, and I hope that brings you some peace, too.”

He turned to her, eyes glittering with unshed tears. “Damn you, Nora.” Then, without quite being sure of how it had happened, their arms were around each other, and he was holding on tightly.

“Sarah was very lucky to have you. And I have a feeling if she wakes up tomorrow, she’ll say it was all worth it, for that one beautiful year you had together.”

“How can you be so sure?”

“Because that’s how I’d feel. If I were her.”

“If that’s what had happened with you and Mick,” he clarified.

She leaned back far enough from the embrace to smile up at him, and shook her head. “No. If I were her.” Her hand cupped his face, and she placed a light kiss on his cheek.

The wounded little boy who held onto her so tightly was a far cry from the tough, unemotional, hedonist called Josef Konstan. She had been granted a rare glimpse of the real man underneath. “Thank you,” she whispered to him. Not sure if it was for what he’d done for her and her family, or for the gift of himself he had given.

Josef finally pulled away, trying to pretend the last few moments hadn’t happened. Back to business as usual. “Yeah. Well.” He cleared his throat. “It does.”

“Does what?”

“Help.”

They shared one more moment of silence together, before Beth left him and went back downstairs. Acknowledging without words, the pain he carried inside of him and the small measure of recompense gained in sharing vicariously in the happiness of his friends. Somewhere deep inside lived the real Josef. Whoever he was, almost a distant memory to the vampire who stood there today. A Josef who had friends. And they didn’t just love him for his money. But for who he was.

Maybe being real wasn’t so bad after all.

 

XXX

 

Sometimes you don’t know what to say, or how to say it. You struggle and worry that it’ll come out all wrong. And then, in one moment of inspiration, you find the words…

“The first time she was in my arms again, it felt like she was meant to be there.” Mick put all the feeling he could into his face and words. “It was like coming home.”

“When was that?” Margaret asked him, as they stood in the kitchen together.

“After I’d saved her life again.” At Margo’s surprised and concerned expression, he explained. “She was working on a story about a ritualistic murder, and went undercover. The psycho drugged her and forced her into his car. I knew something was wrong, so I went looking for her.”

“How did you know?” she continued, wanting to understand the relationship between her daughter and this man.

He shrugged helplessly. “I’m not sure. I just know we’ve always had this…connection. I can’t explain it. All I know is that it kept growing until there was no denying it.”

“Did you try?”

He grinned, and nodded. “You must know when your daughter wants something, she gets it.”

“I guess I should know about connections,” she said, fingering her wedding ring pensively.

“I never wanted to be a vampire; I was turned without my consent. I always hated what I was. Beth is the reason I still exist. She saved my life as surely as I saved hers.”

Margaret glanced into the other room. “After today I realize more than ever the depth of love and fierce loyalty of vampires. In this day and age of human quickie divorces, I see a level of commitment that awes me.”

Mick was stunned at her observations, so unlike what he’d believed for too long. Vampires were monsters, creatures of the night that were driven only by a need to prey upon humans for blood. A compulsion that made relationships with them risky at best, only to be undertaken with the strongest of self control employed. He’d lived like that for over five decades, never realizing how wrong he might be. Now, with Beth, he was discovering a whole new world. Even his urge to feed from her was diminishing. He’d never questioned why, too superstitious to examine the gift very closely. Now… he wondered.

“I used to think… we couldn’t love,” he admitted to Margaret something he’d never told another soul before. “Weren’t capable of it.”

“Not capable of it?!” Margo exclaimed. “Aldo loves me as much today as he did the day we married, no matter how many years we were apart. Josef has taken care of his lost love for over fifty years, and grieves for her every day. And I can see how you feel about Beth written all over you. I couldn’t…” she paused, and gazed at him with sincerity. “I couldn’t want for a better husband for my little girl.”

Smiling in relief and gratitude, Mick hugged his soon to be mother-in-law.

_Some animals mate for life, others go from conquest to conquest. Scientists have even speculated that humans weren’t meant to be in the former category. Maybe it’s true; the divorce rate sure seems to support the theory. Vampires are a different creature from humans; maybe, just maybe in the natural world it’s the vampires who benefit from mating for life and the humans who can’t control their compulsions to spread their seed as far as possible._

_Works for me._

 

End chapter four


	5. Par-Tay!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bachelor party, vampire style.

_Bachelor party for Mick? Nothing more boring that trying to throw a rowdy bachelor party for Mick St. John, and watch him ignore the freshie strippers, refuse the blood cocktails, and sit in the corner all night brooding and missing Beth. Not my idea of a good time. So when I heard Beth was getting a bachelorette party… An idea was born. Let’s just say Mick didn’t have a bachelor party. We crashed hers._

 

XXX

 

It wasn’t certain whether Beth was dragged to the Chippendale show by her friends Marissa, Mo and Sharon, or whether she just wanted it to look that way. Nevertheless, she found herself front row with a handful of singles, watching a stage full of sexy men take off their clothes to a loud, driving beat.

Tina Turner’s “You Better Be Good To Me” pounded out of the sound system, as one of the guys strutted to the edge of the stage and mouthed “you better be good to me” to the audience while whipping off his pants with a flick of his wrist.

“Come to mamma!” Maureen called, gleefully stuffing a dollar into the guy’s black skimpy underwear.

Beth couldn’t help but laugh at the antics of her friends. “How pathetic is it that I’m sitting here thinking, none of these guys is as sexy as Mick?!” she yelled into Marissa’s ear.

“Pathetic, no. True, sadly for the rest of us, yes.”

Beth smiled smugly, and decided to picture Mick on the stage.

“So, is he?”

“What?” Beth said, distracted.

“Good?”

“Marissa!” she exclaimed while the other two giggled. “Well, I’m watching a stage full of hunky guys who are stripping off all their clothes and I’d rather look at Mick, dressed. What does that tell you,” she said smugly.

“You had to ask,” Sharon said, shaking her head.

Abruptly the song stopped and the men disappeared from the stage. The lights dimmed. The music went into Turner’s “Simply the Best.” Beth looked around puzzled, to see a huge cake being wheeled into the room.

“Oh, you didn’t?!” she told her grinning friends. “Tell me you didn’t.”

“Life’s tough, suck it up,” her friend and boss told her. Behind the unknowing human’s backs, Sharon wiggled her eyebrows at Beth as the phrasing. When you’re dating a vampire, the word _suck_ takes on a whole new wealth of meaning.

_...You’re simply the best, better than all the rest. Better than anyone, anyone I ever met. I’m stuck on your heart; I hang on every word you say. Tear us apart, baby I would rather be dead. Oh you’re the best…_

The cake stopped in front of Beth. The ubiquitous stripper music started…

And Mick St. John popped out of the cake, wearing nothing but red silk bikini briefs.

Beth’s scream of astonishment rattled the rafters. It was official: the flying pigs had arrived.

“Oh. My. God.” Marissa breathed, as Mo fanned herself with the handful of bills, swaying as if she felt faint. Sharon manually forced her mouth closed, wiping some drool off her blouse.

“Surprise!” Josef called out as he came into the room with the other guys.

Deliriously happy, Beth threw her arms around her man, simultaneously fending off the arm of her boss, who was trying to reach Mick with one of her singles.

“And I didn’t bring my camera!” Marissa lamented.

“No problem, I hired a photog,” Josef told them.

“You what??!!” Mick screeched, mortified. When Josef threw a pair of pants and shirt to him, he hastily dressed, glancing around the club for a camera.

“That was a wonderful surprise!” Beth told him, kissing him soundly. “Thank you!”

“It was my idea, he just went along,” Josef pointed out peevishly.

She turned and gave Josef a big hug and kiss. “Thank you! And put me down for a poster, an 8X10, and one wallet,” she added in an aside.

“Hey! Mick yelled.

“How the hell did you ever get him to do that?!” Beth asked Josef.

“He was a surprisingly good sport about it. I think our Mick’s really loosening up. ”

“ _He’s_ right here,” Mick told them.

“We’re a good influence on him,” Josef winked at her, ignoring him.

“Coming from you, that’s very scary,” Mick said.

“Okay, gang, let’s par-tay!” Josef shouted, turning his attention elsewhere.

After that the party went into full swing, vamps and humans dancing, drinking, and enjoying the night together. Josef had blocked off a special room in the back, for freshies – or anyone else who might feel the need for a few moments of privacy with a vamp.

Mick pulled Beth onto the dance floor during Tina Turner’s sensuous version of “Whole Lotta Love.”

“So,” he began after a few moments, shit eating grin on his handsome face. “I’m sexier than a stage full of naked Chippendale dancers, huh?”

Beth covered her eyes with one hand, embarrassed that he’d overheard. “Oh god. It’s a good thing you don’t wear hats – we wouldn’t be able to find one big enough for you at this point.”

“Hey, a man likes to know he’s appreciated by his woman.” He pulled their lower bodies together, moving to the beat of the music.

Beth couldn’t think of any smart comeback to that, so she slid her hands into his back pockets, letting the beat of the music and Mick’s closeness wash over her.

As they danced (if you could call it that), he began singing into her ear along with the song. “I been learnin’, baby, I been burning, all these good times, baby, I’ve been yearning. Oh way down inside honey, you know you need it. I’m gonna give you my love… I’m gonna give you my love… Oh, want a whole lotta love, I want a whole lotta love…”

“Maybe,” she whispered in a seductive voice. “If you put on a special show for me, later…”

It was a bachelor party neither would ever forget.

 

End of chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Should I have warned you about all the gratuitous Mick-induced drooling? Should we be worried this was all Josef's idea?? I think he likes the V/O's. Questions to ponder...


	6. Today is the First Day

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Big Day.

_Psychologists say that when a child grows up in an abusive household, they’re unable to imagine life any other way, it is normal to them. I don’t think it’s exclusive to the young. I’m an 86 year old vampire who has come to view pain, loneliness, tragedy, and unhappiness as the normal state of undead life. Happiness is an alien emotion, to be viewed with the utmost suspicion. It feels weird, unreal. Like I’m in some play and someone else is in the leading role. This wonderful life can't be mine. I don’t know quite what to do with it. I was taught to be miserable; I guess I have to learn how to be happy. Old habits die hard._

 

“I feel sick.”

“You can’t get sick, you’re a vampire,” Josef told him mildly. “Here, have some of this.” He reached inside his jacket and pulled out a gold flask. Mick looked at him quizzically. “Hey, I’ve heard the 'best man flask' is a tradition at human weddings.”

Mick grabbed it and took a slug. “Tradition, huh?”

“Well, maybe without the blood. Are you really that nervous?” Mick didn’t answer, but his expression spoke volumes. It wasn’t that surprising, Josef reflected. His last wedding had gone disastrously wrong, and scarred him for life. Had to be bringing up bad memories along with the good.

“I’m glad you’re here,” Mick said sincerely.

“Don’t get mushy on me,” Josef warned, but slung a comforting arm around his shoulder. “Beth’s not Coraline.” _What an understatement_.

Mick smiled. “I know. I’m not worried, I’m just terrified. This ‘being happy’ thing is scary stuff.”

“You’re unique among vamps and men, my friend. Don’t change. Life would be so much more boring.”

“The way my life’s been the past several months, I’d love boring. I welcome boring. Boring is my fondest wish.”

Instead of replying, Josef started humming “The Impossible Dream.”

“Thanks. You really know how to comfort a guy.”

“You’re welcome. Ready to do this thing?”

“I’ve been ready for this moment for 23 years.”

“Dude, you’re weird too, but I love ya.”

“Channeling your surfer-dude days again?” Mick asked.

“You promised not to tell anyone about that.”

“Give me the negatives and your reputation is safe.”

“With you and Beth around it’s doomed anyway. No deal. Now, c’mon – let’s get you married.”

 

XXX

 

The wedding march started up, and Mick took a deep, fortifying breath. He took a long look around the church. As much as he was a nervous wreck, he was savoring every moment to remember for eternity. It was early evening, just after dark, and the newly built Church of Sanctuary (courtesy of a generous, tax deductable donation from the illustrious hedge fund trader, Josef Kostan) was lit with dozens of candles.

The wedding party was a small, intimate gathering of family and friends. Beth’s mother sat in the front, already crying her eyes out. Beth had to give up so much… there were many relatives and friends she couldn’t invite. But then Mick couldn’t exactly blame himself for that, it was her dead parents being in attendance that would cause a bit of a stir in the family. He knew she liked it just the way it was. The ones that really mattered were there. For Beth, that in itself was a miracle.

Dan Autun and his girlfriend Sharona sat in the back, tightly holding hands. Maureen, Marissa, and Steve from Buzzwire were also there, not having known Beth when her parents were “alive”. Carl was there too. And from the “vampire side of the family” Ryder and poker buddies Tim and Dan were in attendance. So was Guillermo. Mick wasn’t quite sure if the women with them were girlfriends or freshies, but decided he didn’t want to know.

And then the moment was there. Beth appeared, walking down the aisle with her father. She was a vision in her mother’s wedding dress. To Mick, she’d never looked more like an angel, all in white with the candlelight shining on her hair. Mick was so transfixed by the sight, he didn’t even realize tears were running down his cheeks. Aldo, for his part, wore a smile that threatened to split his face. Even Josef, trying to project an air of amused tolerance, lost the effect when he looked at Mick and saw the moisture there. Almost everyone in attendance knew what a truly special day this was; there was hardly a dry eye in the house.

The music stopped and Beth was by his side.

_Where she was meant to be…_

Reverend Autun began the ceremony; part traditional and part personalized. “Dearly beloved, family and friends of Elizabeth and Michael, we are gathered here today to honor this joining of souls in holy matrimony. As I look upon this couple today, I can’t help but be reminded of the words of Ruth 1:16:

‘But Ruth said, do not urge me to leave you or turn back from following you; for where you go I will go, and where you lodge, I will lodge. Your people shall be my people, and your God my God.'”

“It’s a blessing to be in the presence of a bond this strong, to celebrate with them as they take this step on their journey together. Mick and Beth have written their own vows, which they’ll share with us now.”

“Beth. I never thought,” Mick had to pause and clear his throat of the emotion choking it and struggle to remember the words he'd practiced. “I never believed a day like this would ever happen for me. You’ve saved my life and soul in more ways than you’ll ever know. You’re my strength and my beauty in this life; you’re all that’s good about me. This moment is perfect because I share it with you.”

“Mick. When I found my guardian angel, I also found the love of my life, my soulmate. My destiny. I love your light, and your darkness. When I found you I found my own personal perfection. No matter what the future brings, you’ll always be my guardian angel.”

“Do you promise to love and honor each other, for better or worse, for all of eternity?”

“I do,” Mick vowed.

“I do,” Beth echoed.

“The rings, please.”

While Beth practically snatched his from the best man, Mick’s hands were shaking so badly he could barely take the ring from Josef.

“Repeat after me: with this ring, I thee wed.”

“With this ring, I thee wed,” the couple repeated in unison, as they put the rings on each other’s fingers.

“Therefore now they are not two, but one flesh. What God hath joined together, let no man tear asunder. (Matthew 19:6). May you go into your new life together with God’s blessings upon you.”

“So by the power vested in me by the state of California, I now pronounce you husband and wife. Mick, you may kiss your bride.”

Beth reached up to wipe the tears off Mick’s face. Amid the crowd’s cheers, he couldn’t resist bending her backwards for a dramatic, passionate kiss. The applause, cat calls, and whistles that followed were embarrassing, but it didn’t dim his huge grin.

“Wise guys,” Mick grumbled as he led his wife up the aisle, suffering the rain of rice.

“I can’t believe we’re finally married!” Beth said, and Mick knew he’d never forget the look of absolute joy on her face if he lived to be a thousand.

“Thank you, God,” Mick said, and he meant it.

 

End of chapter 6

(reception to follow)


	7. And We Danced

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wedding reception, vampire style.

(aka: Surprise Guests)

 

 

_You are the love of my life_   
_And I'm so glad you found me_   
_You are the love of my life_   
_Baby put your arms around me_   
_I guess this is how it feels_   
_When you finally find something real_   
_My angel in the night_   
_You are my love_   
_The love of my life*_

 

The reception was being held in the Friendship Hall adjoining the chapel. The special waiters from Josef’s staff kept the vamp guests supplied with refreshments as well as passing out appetizers and champagne to the humans. It was all very simple but elegant.

As the first song started playing, the lights dimmed and everyone gathered around to watch the couple in their first dance. They had chosen Jim Brickman’s* “Love of my Life,” as “their song.”

 

_I look in your eyes_   
_I'm lost inside your kiss_   
_I think if I'd never met you_   
_About all the things I'd miss *_

 

“Hey, Mrs. St. John,” Mick greeted as her took her into his arms and began dancing.

“Hey Mr. St. John,” she replied in a whisper.

“You’re the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen in eighty-six years. Today, I’m happier than I’ve ever been in my whole life – including all the years before I became a vamp.”

Unable to speak, Beth rested her head on his shoulder and just soaked up his presence.

 

XXX

 

The father of the bride had the second dance with his daughter. They smiled at each other in quiet gratitude for fences mended.

“This is the proudest day of my life. You’ve grown up so beautiful.”

Beth smiled. “I’m glad you’re here.” Words of course being so inadequate to describe it, but had to suffice.

“I’m not going away again, sweetheart. I’ve got my family back, and nothing will ever take them away from me again.” It was a vow, it was a threat. It was a promise.

Beth hugged him.

 

XXX

 

 _I thank you for sharing your life with me, for giving me a reason to believe, for loving me for who I am…_  
 _We didn’t need fortune, didn’t need fame_  
 _just a little shelter from the rain, your hand to hold onto,_  
 _when times got tough you pulled me through_  
 _We didn’t need a castle made of stone, just you there as I grow old, your heart to hold onto._  
 _All I ever needed was you_  
*All I Ever Needed, Bret Michaels

 

The older couple on the dance floor shared that soul deep contentment that parents everywhere feel at the wedding of their daughter to a wonderful man, even if their family was unique in so many ways.

“I have a lot of years to make up for,” Aldo told his wife and they glided around the room, tears glistening in his eyes.

“We’re here together now, that’s all that matters.” This was a celebration of love, no place for sadness and regrets.

“No,” he denied, not letting himself off the hook. “But it’s a start.”

“I think, in the scheme of hundreds of years, a couple of decades… well, it takes on a whole new perspective, you know?”

“Have I told you lately that I love you?”

“You do have a lot of years to make up for,” she told him with a teasing grin.

“I’m not going to lose you this time,” he vowed. “Will you marry me again?” He’d been thinking about a renewal of their vows for awhile now, but wanted to wait until Beth had her special day.

The smile that lit Margo’s face reminded him of the young bride he knew so long ago. “Yes.”

 

XXX

 

“So, Nora, you finally made an honest man of him,” Josef quipped as he twirled Beth around the floor.

Beth just smiled, no snappy comeback that he would have expected from her. In a departure from her usual verbose style, today, she found it difficult to talk. She would have preferred to remain totally silent for the rest of the evening, at least until their plane left for Alaska in a few hours. Unfortunately, she did have to initiate a conversation, but only because she’d promised Mick she would…

 

XXX

 

As the people moved around the dance floor, weaving in and out between couples and cutting in, enjoying the evening, Mick suddenly found his arms full of a smirking Josef Konstantin.

They scuffled over who would lead, Mick giving his friend an exasperated look. “Are you drunk?”

“Beth dared me. You know I can’t walk away from a dare.”

“That’s gonna get you in trouble one of these days,” Mick warned. He struggled to get Josef into a dip, but the older vamp was surprisingly strong for someone who whined about something as simple as jumping onto a roof and preferred to hire muscle like Mick to do his strong-arm work.

“That’s rich – an 86 year old baby such as yourself giving me advice.”

“Baby, huh?” Mick asked, just barely averting his own descent into a dip. He nodded toward the far corner, where Steve stood, taking photos for the wedding album. Camera lens currently pointed straight at them. “You give me your jpeg, I’ll give you mine.” He grinned in triumph.

“You set me up!”

Mick laughed outright, then, catching Josef off guard, spun them and lowered him into a dip.

“Damn – you’re learning!” Josef exclaimed, impressed. “But remember who the master is,” he reminded when upright once again. “Now we’re just even, each having something on the other. And don’t forget how long I’ve been alive,” he added cryptically. Josef punctuated his words by grabbing Mick’s face in both hands, and placing a big kiss on his startled lips.

“Stalemate,” Josef told his deflated friend, then left to find a freshie.

“Well, that didn’t work out well,” Mick muttered as he joined his wife again.

“Maybe not for you,” she retorted, tongue darting out to wet her lips as she mentally added a couple more photo prints to her growing list.

Mick gaped at her for a moment, then shook his head in defeat. “I think I’m definitely outclassed here.” Or was that out-sleazed?

 

XXX

 

Josef looked around the room a bit like a king surveying his kingdom, lifting his glass of champagne high. “As the best man, I have the honor of making the toast. I almost didn’t do it – couldn’t think of anything to say.”

“Josef Kostan without something to say?” Mick yelled out, “I don’t believe it!”

“Sad, but true,” Josef answered amidst the chuckles, then continued. “At first I wasn’t so sure I was happy about this marriage,” he admitted. “I was afraid maybe I was going to lose my best friend -- things would be different.” He looked at Beth, who stood to his left. “Turns out I actually got my friend back.” He and Beth smiled at each other; Josef wearing a smile more genuine than any who knew him had ever seen. “See, he’s been a pretty morose bastard for a lot of years now. Until she showed him how to live again. Made him want to live again. So to Beth – and the lucky idiot who finally got the girl.”

During the laughter and glass clinking that followed, the three of them traded gazes, knowing they’d formed a bond that would last forever, no matter what adventures or challenges lay ahead.

 

XXX

 

 _I can be your hero, baby; I can kiss away the pain_  
 _I will stand by you forever_  
 _You can take my breath away…_  
*Hero, by Enrique Iglesias

 

The wedding cake was supposed to be the final offering of the evening before the newlyweds left. Mick and Beth stood by the table to do the traditional cutting and sharing. Beth’s piece was lovingly fed to her by her devoted husband. Mick’s was playfully shoved into his face to cover the fact that he wouldn’t be eating it. Laughing, he impulsively kissed the icing off her face.

 _Why is there vanilla in a wedding cake?_ Was the first, odd thought to come into his head before he was distracted by seeing an old familiar face in the crowd.

“That can’t be…” He looked at Beth in amazement; she was grinning at him knowingly, like she’d just eaten that proverbial canary instead of cake. He practically flew across the room to where the woman was standing, a huge grin on her face.

“It can’t be!” he exclaimed when he was standing in front of her. “Cat? Cat Moon?!”

“Micky Johns. Long time no see.” She also was looking pretty pleased with herself.

“I don’t believe it!” Mick said, hugging her. Cat hadn’t been a vampire when she was the manager for his band, The Nighttrollers. She clearly was now, however. He looked the question at her.

Cat shrugged. “Yeah, when I started getting a bit long in the tooth, I decided to take the plunge. Sorry I’m late for the wedding, but my plane was delayed. I’ve been managing a band over in Amsterdam for the last few years.”

“Beth was behind this, wasn’t she?”

Cat nodded. “I couldn’t miss this amazing day – Micky’s wedding. Sorry I haven’t been in touch.”

“You’d better be,” he told her, mock sternly. Even though it was probably his fault, he’d had a habit of severing old ties when it became too emotionally uncomfortable to keep the memories they brought with them. “We’ve got a lot of catching up to do.”

“Lemme go grab a little liquid sustenance first, I haven’t feed since before the flight.”

As she wandered off in search of a waiter, Mick returned to his bride, pointing a finger at her in playful accusation.

“Surprise!”

“Surprise,” Mick echoed back to her, redirecting his finger in the other direction as he caught a figure shifting nervously over behind a potted palm.

Her eyes widened in shock. “Josh…” she breathed.

“This one’s yours – and believe me, I had nothing to do with it,” he told her, moving off in search of a waiter himself.

After much debating and soul searching, Beth had sent Josh a wedding invitation. She’d wondered if it was in bad taste, but genuinely wanted to try and be friends. He’d obviously kept out of sight; she’d figured he hadn’t shown.

The music had started up again after the break, as she walked over to her former boyfriend. “Chain of Fools.” She heard Josef saying something about it being “their” song (whose she wasn’t sure), and leading the women in the room into an impromptu dance ala John Travolta in “Michael.” Large majority of them being his Willing Freshies. Some angel, she thought to herself, but couldn’t deny his attraction with the ladies was similar to Michael's in the movie.

“Definitely drunk.” She shook her head – then wondered if she should be angry, jealous, or just be glad her man was finally really loosening up and having a good time again when she saw Mick joining in… _Hmm… he said he didn’t care if I invited Josh. He didn’t seem jealous when he much as told me to go talk to him. But the actions they speak otherwise…_ But really. The boys playing together was the cutest thing in the world. She found she couldn’t be mad. As long as he kept his hands to himself, no one would get hurt.

She met Josh’s eyes as he shifted nervously from foot to foot. “Hello Josh.”

“Hi Beth,” he said, sounding about fourteen.

“I didn’t think you’d come.

He took a deep breath. “Look, this is definitely awkward.”

“Not to me,” she reassured, reaching out to give his hand a squeeze. “I’m glad you did. I know we haven’t had a chance to talk things out like we should have. Life’s been so crazy lately…”

“SOP, huh?”

“Yeah,” she had to admit. “Crazy is still normal.”

“And you like it that way.” It was both question and statement. She nodded. “I’ll be honest. I’m here mainly because I had doubts. I was worried about you. That’s why I came.”

“And did it put your mind to rest?”

He nodded his head almost reluctantly. “After watching the two of you get married… I can’t deny it. A blind man would be able to see the – love,” he stumbled over the word, “between you two. I guess I knew for a long time, maybe it was pride that kept me from admitting it.”

She gazed at him sadly. “I meant what I said back at the PD. But I never cheated on you. Things were…complicated.”

“Maybe we can have that long talk, when you get back. I heard you’re going to _Alaska_?” he said incredulously.

Beth shrugged. “I’ve always wanted to see the northern lights.”

The awkwardness descended upon them again, words having dried up.

“Well, thanks for coming,” Beth told him.

Josh nodded. “I definitely think we should talk. There are some things I need to discuss with you, too.”

“We will,” she promised.

“I’ve only ever been trying to look out for you,” he said earnestly, as if it was important to him that she know this.

“I know. I’ll call you when we get home.”

An awkward hug later, he walked out the door and she returned to her party.

 

XXX

 

_Looks like we made it; look how far we’ve come, my baby_   
_We might’ve took the long way; we knew we’d get there someday_   
_They said, I’ll be they’ll never make it_   
_Just look at us holding on, we’re still together, still going strong_   
_You’re still the one I run to, the one I belong to, you’re still the one I want for life_   
_You’re still the one that I love, the only one I dream of_   
_You’re still the one I kiss goodnight…*_

 

The new couple danced their last song of the night before leaving; “Still the One” by Shania Twain*. It was the bane of wedding planners everywhere, as a popular choice that many felt was unfitting for a newly married couple. In Mick and Beth’s situation of course, having known each other for over twenty years, it was perfect. Aldo and Margaret also joined them for a romantic dance to this one, gazing into each other’s eyes and knowing it was their song, too.

Meanwhile and unbeknownst to the revelers, another surprise -- and uninvited guest watched from the shadows…

 

The end  
 

**Author's Note:**

> This is for all of you who needed tissues for "Forever." Feel better?


End file.
